Advantages

Disadvantages

I received this Vaseline Spray & Go Body Moisturiser to try for free from a review panel I'm a member of. The RRP on it is £4.99, which to be honest is not a price I would've paid for it had I seen it in the shops. It just seemed very gimmicky to me.

It comes in what looks very much like a deodorant can, with a push top spray on the top. When the top is depressed it quickly releases a sharp blast of the moisturiser. I do NOT find it gives the 'fine mist' advertised, but rather a very directed burst which covers only a smell area of skin at a time, rather than dispersing evenly like a mist would.

The moisturiser has an odd, but not unpleasant scent. It's creamy smelling but with an odd undertone that I guess comes from the oats in the formula. The consistency is very thin, as you would expect from something in spray form, and when sprayed on it reminds me of spray-on sun creams. It feels very watery as I massage it into my skin and it absorbs very quickly.

It is very quick to apply and because it absorbs quickly it does mean I'm able to get dressed within a couple of minutes of applying it without my clothes sticking to me. It leaves my skin feeling a little softer but really I don't find it particularly moisturising or hydrating. It doesn't make any difference to the areas of dry skin I have, and the slight moisturising effect it does have doesn't last long at all.

All in all I've been disappointed with the spray moisturiser. I still think the spray element is just a gimmick really, and the moisturiser is not very effective. I'll be sticking to Vaseline's lotions which are cheaper and more effective.

Advantages

Disadvantages

I bought this Garnier Moisture Match Mattifying Fresh Cream because my oily-combination skin has been turning more towards the oily side recently and I wanted something to take the shine away. I bought it when it was on offer for £3.99 but the usual price is £5.99.

It comes in a small green squeezy tube with a flip top lid that makes it easy and convenient to use. The tube is opaque which means you can't easily see how much you have left, but apart from that I think the packaging is pretty decent.

The cream is also a pale green colour and although it looks like quite a thick textured cream it actually feels really light. It has a smooth texture that feels like somewhere between a cream and a gel. I do find I need to use a bit more than I would of my usual moisturisers, but it smoothes easily over the skin and absorbs easily without leaving behind a greasy residue.

When I first used this I was quite impressed! my skin was left looking matte and shine free! and it felt really don't and smooth! but not heavy, greasy or clogged. However, it was only a matter of minutes before my skin was looking very shiny again, I would say even more shiny than before I applied it! This is not what I'd expect from a product that claims to be mattifying!

All in all I really can't recommend this moisturiser because although it does feel nice it doesn't do what it claims and nattily the skin. I won't be buying it again.

Advantages

Disadvantages

I've been having a bit of a clear out recently and have come across quite a few products I forgot I even had. This Body Shop Pomegranate & Raspberry room spray is one of the treasures I've uncovered. This costs £7 but I'm pretty sure I bought it while it was on offer for a much more reasonable price!

First things first, I LOVE the packaging of this product. It comes in a lovely heavy feeling glass bottle which to me screams quality, and it looks really classy, especially when compared to your average air freshened container. It looks lovely on my dressing table amongst my more fancy bottles of lotions and potions. I has a small black lid which lifts off easily to reveal the spray underneath.

I find the spray easy to depress and it gives a nice fine mist of the spray, meaning I don't end up with wet patches wherever I've sprayed it, which is the major downfall of many similar products.

The scent of the spray is absolutely lovely, I find it really fresh and uplifting. The scent is very natural and not synthetic or chemical smelling, it really does smell just like fresh fruit and good enough to eat. Just a few spritzes around the room are enough to leave a nice lasting fragrance which really freshens up the room. Although I do stop noticing the fragrance after a while if I go out and come back in I do notice that the scent is still there several hours later which is pretty impressive.

This also states that it can be used as a body spray and a linen spray, and whilst I don't use it as a body spray because the scent doesn't seem to linger on me, I often use I to freshen up my sofa and bed linen, and it works really well for this purpose, though personally I think Febreze is better!

All in all I think this is a great room spray with a lovely scent, I'm just not sure as would pay £7 for it!

Advantages

Disadvantages

My hair has been causing me a lot of grief recently. Following illness and ultimately a hospital stay in August my usually naturally healthy and shiny hair was looking quite dull and feeling weak. After a while just using baby shampoo as everything else seemed to just make it worse, I decided to try this L'Oreal Triple Resist shampoo in the hope that it would improve my hair's condition. It costs around £3 for a 250ml bottle or £4 for a 400ml bottle.

I love the packaging for this product, the black and pink colours really make it stand out amongst all the other shampoo bottles. The flip lid makes it easy and convenient to use, and the only slight issue I have with the packaging is that the plastic is opaque so you can't easily see how much is left.

The shampoo is white and very creamy looking. It has a mid consistency but feels just as creamy as it looks. It has a fresh fruity scent that lingers in the hair after use. I find it lathers easily and I don't need to use too much at a time. The lather it creates feels thick and luxurious, but rinses out easily.

After using this I find my hair is quite smooth and easy to comb through when wet. Once dry it feels very soft and smooth and looks healthy and shiny. After a few days use it find seem to start making my heir greaser than usual, but then this went away again after another few days.

I've now been using this shampoo for over a month and I do feel it has improved the condition of my hair. It certainly feels stronger, and I've found there's less hair on my brush after brushing. Overall my hair looks shinier, healthier and has more body than before I started using this.

Overall I am quite impressed with this shampoo and would recommend it for anyone with weak or fragile hair like mine was.

Advantages

Disadvantages

I've recently got back into painting my nails after years of not bothering, so I've been digging out all the freebies I've received and never used as well as purchasing lots of new polishes. One of the freebies Zi had lying around was an OPI polish in white (it doesn't have a shade name on the bottle, sorry!). OPI polishes have an RRP of £11.50 for a 15ml bottle, which is definitely on the expensive side, but they can usually be found much cheaper online.

The packaging is nice enough, but for the price I feel it could be made more luxurious and fancy looking. As you would expect the bottle is made of clear glass so you can see the colour of the polish inside. The lid is tall and thinner than other varnish bottles, and I do find it makes it easier to hold and to control the brush.

The brush is a pretty average size and shape for nail polish, there's nothing special about it and it functions just as you would expect a polish brush to. It's easy to control the brush and to get an even coat of the polish with few strokes.

The polish itself is not that great if I'm honest. It is fairly fluid and seems to apply quite evenly, but as it dries it tends to go very streaky so I need to do more coats than normal to get a truly even finish. I found it impossible to get a smooth, streak free finish over the whole nail with this white polish, so I now use it just for doing French tips and use a different brand when I want a full white nail.

It seems to dry fairly quickly, being touch dry in about 2 minutes, but I found it takes forever to be completely dry - I smudged one of my French tips over 2 hours after applying the polish. I've never had this problem with any other varnish, and this really lets it down.

Overall I'm not really impressed with OPI nail polish, for the price I would expect so much better.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

This is a terrible phone, so bad in fact that it's completely put me off ever buying an HTC again. My boyfriend did actually warn me before I got it that HTCs are rubbish, but I got it anyway because it was on a good deal from Carphone Warehouse where I got the phone and a Tablet free on a 24 month contract with Vodafone. It's been a very long 24 months waiting for my upgrade so I could finally get rid of this piece of junk!

Looks wise the phone is pretty good, it has a neat, sleek look to it. I like the size of it, I'm not a fan of these massive smartphones that don't fit comfortably in your pocket, so this was perfect for me. It fits nicely in my hand and I'm able to reach every part of the screen without having to reposition the phone in my hand.

The phone is simple enough to use, there are no confusing menus and everything seems to be where you would expect to find it. It's also easy to customise your phone by choosing what to place on your home screens etc, as is expected of any smartphone these days. While using this phone I've never found myself unable to figure out how to do what I wanted to do.

The features are pretty extensive, with the usual services including messaging, Internet, camera etc, as well as the ability to download android apps for just about anything. However, the phone's memory/storage capacity is extremely poor and I found trying to use most apps was completely pointless as I just let getting told there wasn't enough memory. The only downloaded app currently on my phone is the Barclays Pingit app, yet every time I pick up my phone I get notifications saying that I need to make more space by removing unused pops. Not acceptable!

The battery life is also terrible. At one point I did download a couple of simple games onto the phone but playing them drained the battery so quickly that I would be unable to use my phone for the rest of the day, so it wasn't feasible. The battery lasts if I'm lucky about 6 hours with only very light use, and if I'm actually using it a moderate amount it can last about 3 hours, which is just ridiculous, I have to stop using my phone just to conserve the last little bit of battery life in case I get n important call/text.

Another issue with the phone is just how often it crashes and I have to either restart it or take the battery out ad put it back in again. Using the Internet is difficult because explorer crashes regularly, as do any apps I try to use, so really there's not much I can actually do on my phone, which is extremely irritating.

So surely it functions well as a basic phone right? Well, no. I find call quality is not great on this phone, and it's also difficult to do anything during a call as the touchscreen seems to lose it's sensitivity, which makes automated phone services a nightmare as it's nearly impossible to enter the numbers. The volume doesn't go very high either and even at full volume I often find myself struggling to hear what's being said.

One plus point is that the camera is ok. It's only 5mp which is not great compared to a lot of smartphones now, but it produces crisp, clear images and the editing options are quite varied.

Other problems I've encountered more often the older my phone gets are loss of sensitivity on the touchscreen, the screen freezing, the phone sending texts to half my phone book rather than just the person I wanted to send it to, contacts randomly disappearing from my phonebook, and texts sending before I've finished writing them. There are also many other minor niggles that have been occurring more ad more often but I can't bring them all to mind right now.

All in all this is definitely the worst phone I've ever had (and I've had a lot of phones!) and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, in fact I'd recommend avoiding it t all costs!

Advantages

Disadvantages

I've been on the hunt for the perfect primer for a while now. I have oily/combination skin which has a tendency to get very shiny throughout the day, and makes it difficult to wear makeup without it sliding off or 'melting' off my face, so when primers came to the forefront of the beauty world I knew I needed one. I've tried quite a lot now, from the very cheap to the very expensive, and this Rimmel one is the latest. It's on the lower end of the scale price wise, and I picked it up for £6.99, though I can't remember where from.

The primer comes in a small white plastic tube which unfortunately is opaque so you can't easily see when you're running out. It has screw off lid which again is unfortunate as a flip top would make it much easier nod more convenient to use. That said, the packaging is ok, it doesn't have any major issues and it looks just fine.

The primer is a white creamy gel type substance, which is slightly different to other primers I've used. It feels smooth but doesn't have the same silky feel as most primers, instead having a kind of sticky feel. It is easy to apply by either dabbing or stroking it onto the face. You don't want to massage it in as such, but rather leave it sat on top of the skin to do it's job.

I find the primer sits well on my skin and I can't really feel it once it's on. I find it instantly takes away any shine from my skin and leaves it looking a little more even in tone. My mineral powder foundation applies well over the top of it and I feel it does give a good smooth base. The only slight issue I have hen I first apply it is that it doesn't make my pores less noticeable as it's supposed to, so my foundation can tend to sit in the pores and make them more obvious, particularly around my nose.

I find when I use this under foundation it does help my makeup to stay on longer, but it's not a miracle worker and it does still let the shine through after a few hours. However, I generally wear this on it's own as I don't tend to wear makeup on a day to day basis, and I find it does keep my skin looking nine free for most of the day when used on it's own, except in particularly hot weather.

All in all I do think this is a decent primer, but it's certainly not the best I've used and I don't think I'll be buying it again.

Advantages

Disadvantages

Witch Hazel is a great thing which I'm regularly found singing the virtues of. Recently I've been trying to ind a good toner for my skin which doesn't contain alcohol. Sadly this is easier said than done, so I decided instead to buy a bottle of witch hazel to use as a toner, and I picked this one up in Boots for just £2.99.

It comes in a glass bottle with a metal screw off lid. I like the heavy quality feel of the bottle and I find the open neck makes it easy to pour out the contents either onto a cotton pad or into something else depending on what you're using the witch hazel for.

Now as I've already said I bought this to use as a toner and I find t to be a very effective one. It's easy to saturate a cotton pad with it without having to use loads, and it can then be easily applied to the skin by simply swiping the cotton pad over the skin. I love the way my skin feels after using this, it leaves it feeling clean, fresh and refined, but is so gentle and soothing, and doesn't dry the skin out or leave t feeling tight. It's the perfect toner especially if, like me, you have combination or oily skin with a tendency to blemishes. It helps to keep skin clean and clear as well as soothing any sensitivity.

Of course witch hazel has many other uses and is very effective at soothing itchy skin, stings and bites etc, but one of the other main things I use it for is to help get rid of blackheads. To do this I simply soak a cotton pad in the liquid then put the pad over the affected area for 10 minutes, and this really helps to dissolve dirt and grime and after a few times the pores look so much cleaner and smaller and more refined.

Overall I'm really pleased with this Boots Witch Hazel, I feel it's a high quality product at a great price, and it has so many uses.

Advantages

Disadvantages

I bought this conditioner along with the matching shampoo on a bit of a whim when I saw it on offer for £3 in Tesco. I'd never heard of the Headmasters range before but I decided to give it a go as it was on offer, rather than get something I'd used before.

It comes in a tall bright pink squeezy tube as you can see in the above picture. The tube is opaque hitch is annoying as it means you can't easily see how much you have left, but the packaging is easy and convenient to use with a flip top lid bad the fact that it stands on the lid meaning the conditioner is always ready to come out f the tube.

The conditioner is quite thin in consistency and doesn't feel very creamy or luxurious. It has the same strong chemical scent as the shampoo though perhaps not quite as strong. The thin consistency makes it easy to spread and to massage through my hair. A little also goes a long way.

It rinses out pretty easily and doesn't leave my hair feeling heavy or coated. My hair does feel smoother on first rinsing it out. However once my hair is dry I really see no benefit from using this conditioner at all. It doesn't make my hair and softer or smoother, it doesn't tame frizz or flyaways, it doesn't add shine or make my hair look healthier, and it certainly doesn't give it any added body or volume.

All in all I really can't see any benefit from using this conditioner. I wouldn't recommend it and I definitely won't be buying it again even at such a cheap price.

Advantages

Disadvantages

I picked up this shampoo on a bit of a whim whilst browsing the haircare aisle in Tesco. I was in need f a new shampoo and conditioner but had planned on picking up one that I'd used before until I spotted this one on offer for £3 and decided to give it a go.

It comes in a bright pink cylindrical bottle as pictured above. The bottle is opaque so unfortunately you can't see easily how much you have left, but it has a flip top lid to make it easy and convenient to use. The packaging looks and feels pretty cheap to me honest, and the flip top feels quite flimsy.

The shampoo is of a mid consistency, neither too runny nor too thick, and it has a strong and rather strange chemical scent which is not like anything I've smelt before. It lathers pretty well but doesn't give as thick or. Luxurious a lather as I'm used to. It rinses out quickly and easily and doesn't feel like it leaves a residue behind.

My hair is left feeling clean and fresh and it feels quite light and bouncy. The first couple of times I used it I was quite impressed with how it left my hair, as although it didn't give it any more volume or body it did leave it feeling bouncier than before and looking quite healthy. However, after using it a few times I found it left my hair quite dehydrated and looking quite flat, which is rely the opposite of what I wanted.

Overall I don't think this is a very good shampoo and I won't be buying it again even though it was pretty cheap.

Advantages

Disadvantages

I've never really been a big fan of concealer, I just can't seem to find one that I don't feel makes my imperfections more obvious, but I really hate the dark circles under my eyes so I'm always trying different things to minimise them. I bought this concealer after seeing it being raved about on nearly every beauty blog going as the best concealer out there for pale girlies such as myself. I picked it up for £4.19 in Boots, but I'm pretty sure I've seen it cheaper before.

The packaging is plain, simple and functional - just what I would expect from a cheap product like this. It comes in a tube with a wand like a lip gloss, and the tube is clear so you can see the concealer inside and easily tell when it's running out. The wand has a sponge applicator to apply it directly to the skin, and I use it by just fanning it on with the applicator then blending with a finger.

I have the lightest shade and I was shocked to find that it is actually a little bit too light for my skin, as I normally really struggle to find a concealer light enough. The concealer has a mid consistency with a creamy texture that is easy to blend by simply dabbing it in with a finger. It feels light on my skin and doesn't feel pore clogging.

Sadly, I didn't find this concealer worked for me at all. Firstly it simply didn't conceal my dark circles at all. Secondly, it sits in the creases under my eyes and in my pores, making them more obvious, the opposite of what I want a concealer to do. Thirdly, it doesn't last well without creasing, rubbing or sweating off. I really honestly and truly cannot understand how this product gets such great reviews, it simply doesn't do anything for me.

As you can tell I'm really not impressed with this concealer, and I definitely won't be buying it again!

Advantages

Disadvantages

I've recently found myself with a slightly embarrassing problem - the combination of the hot weather we've been having and the horrible cheap synthetic material of my work trousers has left me with a rather spotty botty! Too much information? Probably, but it is relevant I promise. The spots are not like acne spots, they're just little red bumps, but I was getting very self-conscious about them so I started looking online for solutions. Eventually I came accross a site where people were highly recommending Dead Sea Mud Black Soap as a miraculous cure, so I went straight on Amazon and found this one by Dead Sea Spa Magik, costing £3.49.

The soap doesn't look anything special, it's just a pretty standard curvy soap shape, but it's black in colour which is perhaps a little unusual. I don't notice any real scent from it when I'm using it, butvon sniffing the bar it does have a subtle fresh, oceanic type scent. There's nothing special about the way you use this soap either - simply lather up either in your hands or on the area you're treating and massage into the area before rinsing off.

I was a little worried that this would be like any other soap and leave me with that horrible squeaky clean feeling, but it doesn't. It leaves my skin feeling quite soft and smooth, and not stripped, dry or tight like other soaps. I've been using it on my face as well as my body and I have to say I've been impressed with how it's fared on both areas.

When I was reading up about it online people using it for the same issue as me were claiming that the spots had gone literally after one use - well mine didn't, and frankly I didn't expect them to. However, after about a well of using it every day in the shower there is definitely an improvement. The spots and bumps hadn't miraculously disappeared, but they were much less noticeable. I've now been using it for a few weeks and whilst they're still not gone there are definitely much fewer and the ones still there are much smaller than before. That's a result as far as I'm concerned.

I've also been impressed with how this leaves my facial skin. It cleanses thoroughly and I have to say my skin is looking clearer and brighter since I've been using this. No need to waste money on expensive cleansers when this does such a great job!It's also lasting really well, I've been using it every day on my whole body for several weeks and it barely looks like it's been touched really, so great value for money.

All in all I think this stuff is fantastic and from now on I refuse to be without one in my bathroom!

Advantages

Disadvantages

I've had a little travel sized tube of Origins Modern Friction for ages and despite it being a much raved about product I hadn't got around to trying it for some reason until recently. The full sized tube is 125ml and costs £33, which to be honest is a lot more than I'm currently willing to spend on this type of product!

The packaging is nice, quite simple and plain but with the high quality feel that I expect from expensive products like this. My little travel sized tube has a screw off lid, but the full sized version has a flip top for convenience.

The scrub if I'm honest is nothing like I was expecting. It describes itself as a 'microdermabrasion' scrub so I was expecting a fine gritty texture like other microdermabrasion style products I've used, but this is very different. It's a very thick, sticky feeling cream with bits in it. The bits that are in it don't feel grainy or gritty like other exfoliators though, they're soft and squishy and feel quite weitd really. It has a very natural, herbal type scent which I'm not keen on but isn't off-putting.

I massage the scrub into damp skin and it doesn't really feel like it's exfoliating my skin, the creamy texture and squishy bits just don't feel very effective to me. It can take a bit of effort to wash off too as the thick textured cream clings to the skin, especially in awkward places such s around the nose.

After use my skin does feel soft, smooth and fresh, but I don't see any dramatic difference thst would make me spend over the odds on this product. When I've seen people raving about this product they've always mentioned how it helps get rid of blackheads, make pores practically disappear, and generally help keep skin looking very clear and healthy, but despite using it regularly for 4 weeks now it hasn'telnet any if this for me, andin fact my pores seem much more noticeable than they did before I began using it.

All in all I've been really disappointed with this exfoliator. Don't get me wrong, it's not a terrible product, I just don't see anything in it to warajt he high price and rave reviews.

Advantages

Disadvantages

I bought this bronzed a while ago when I decided that I really should start using a bronzer but didn't want to spend much money on one. MUA is a highly recommended budget brand so I thought I'd give their bronzed a go. It costs only £3 so is very affordable as far as cosmetics go.

I actually think the packaging on this productmakes it look more expensive than it actually is. It's a square compact made from a nice sturdy feeling plastic. The bottom of the compact is black, but the top is transparent so you can see the bronzed through the lid. It has a hinge motion and a clip fastener. The only thing I can see anyone complaining about is the fact that there's no mirror, but it doesn't bother me personally as I never use mirrors in compacts anyway.

The bronzer has 4 shades, from a shimmery cream colour to a mid bronze shade, and the idea is that you use all the shades together as a bronzer,or just the lightest shade on it's own as a highlighter.

When I started using the bronzer I could immediately tell that it was cheap, the powder just doesn't feel as soft and silky as more expensive products, and doesn't feel like it would be that kind to my skin. I also found that it didn't pick up onto the brush that well, and it took me ages to get enough product onto the brush.

Now, when it comes to applying the bronzer, more is definitely more! I found it barely gives any colour at all and despite the bronzey colours in the compact it doesn't actually come out looking anything like bronzer, it only works as a shimmery highlighter in my opinion (and I'm very pale so anyone with darker skin would probably find it even worse for colour pay-off). Being as it barely shows up anyway it was hard to tell how long it stayed on for, but I'd say that is probably one of it's better qualities as it seemed to last all day looking pretty much the same as when I applied it.

All in all I'm really not happy with this bronzed, in my opinion it isn't a bronzed at all it's just a highlighter.

Advantages

Disadvantages

I used this moisturiser for a couple of years when I was younger, and recently went back to it after receiving a travel sized version as a free sample. It is rather expensive at £17 for 50ml or £29.50 for 125ml.

The packaging depends on which size product you buy. The 50ml comes in a small plastic squeezy tube which is great for travelling with, but obviously works out more expensive. The 125ml comes in a hard plastic bottle with a pump action dispenser. Both options have that typically Clinque look which does, I feel, reflect the high price tag. And in both cases the packaging is transparent, meaning you can always easily see when you're running out.

The lotion is a pale yellow coloured gel which is very thin in consistency. It has quite a watery feel to it, even though it isn't as thin as water. I find a couple of pumps of the applicator is enough to cover my face and neck, as it spreads really easily due to it's consistency. It doesn't have a noticeable scent.

The gel feels very refreshing on my skin, it's very light and smooth and doesn't feel heavy or clogging like richer lotions can. It sinks in almost instantly and leaves my skin feeling velvety soft, with an almost powdery feeling to it. The mattifying effect of the lotion is the best I've ever found, nothing I've tried beats it. My skin looks fresh and clean and completely shine free.

When I used to use this gel regularly I had teenage skin whcih was very oily and spot-prone, and at that point I found that it was perfect for me. It provided the moisturisation my skin needed without leaving it greasy or shiny. However, now I'm a bit older and my skin is drier in places I don't find it quite so effective. It works wonders on the oilier areas of my face but those areas that are on the drier side don't feel hydrated enough after using.

All in all I do think this is a fantastic moisturiser for anyone with oily skin, but if your skin is more combination you may find you need soething else for the drier areas. Even though it is an expensive product the 125ml bottles used to last me over 6 months so it actually works out as pretty good value.